Tonight was my first band concert - ever - and it was pretty fun. We played two songs for our families and friends. It really wasn't too bad for only practicing those songs for two weeks. We only started using our instruments in September so, not too terrible.

The other night we heard a knock at the door, the dog went nuts, and the kids just looked at each other for a minute. It was after dark and they couldn't imagine who was at the door. When Dad answered the door, there was nothing but a basket of goodies. The treats had a note attached explaining that we'd been "Boo'ed"

I've seen posts on Pinterest and my favorites blogs about this new Halloween idea and I've always wanted to to be "Boo'ed". It just looked like so much fun so when it happened, I was elated.

The kids are reading the instructions on how to continue the "boo".

I gathered up some items we had at home, printed out the adorable tags from TomKat, and ran to get more treats to add to the baskets we were going to leave on someones door step. Tonight we ran around town dropping off our treats and trying not to get caught. We almost had more fun dropping off the treats than we did the night we found our amazing boo basket.

The kids don't think that they will be able to make it through the day tomorrow without blabbing.

One of the gems of Lubbock is our First Friday Art Trail, a free, public art event centered around the Lubbock Cultural District, It was a great evening of art, music and fun. We popped from one center to a gallery, and into businesses for a wide variety of art. The variety of beautiful things was overwhelming - painting, welding, photography, music of all kinds.

The kids really enjoyed themselves. Riding the trolley was a highlight and the little one was impressed with the art prices!

Buddy Holly Center

Giorgio’s Pizza

​Held from 6-9pm, rain or shine, on the first Friday of every month, this progressive art event is sure to delight visitors with a plethora of art experiences. Trail goers can grab a map and explore the trail on their own, or jump aboard one of five free First Friday Trolleys and ride to the galleries along the downtown route.

Family Games can get interesting with a large family. There are quite a few games that aren't fun for us - all 6 of us. Games like checkers, slap jack.. We (meaning our mom) likes games that are fast, keep everyone interested, and don't take too long. Preston love Monopoly and our mom has modified the game so that it's over before midnight.

Farkle is one of our favorites for a quick game after dinner.

Tonight we were playing and the youngest wanted to know who was winning and he kept yelling, "I'm in the head!" We tried to explain what in the head meant to Navy-men, but he persisted. And when you can't beat them, join them. So we did. All throughout the game someone would ask, "Who's in the head?" and everyone would die laughing.

Number of PlayersTwo or more players. Our youngest enjoyed playing when he was 6 years old; younger than that might be tough to hold their attention.

The ObjectTo acquire points by a systematic rolling of the dice. First Player to 5,000 points wins the game.

How We PlayOn your turn, place all six dice into the dice cup and roll them. If a die falls out of the play area, re-roll it. Take out any dice worth points after each roll. This forms your running score for the round. Roll the remaining dice, removing any dice worth points and adding them to your running total. If you are ever able to set aside all six dice, you may re-roll all of your dice and keep building your running total. If ever you are unable to set aside any dice (no dice are worth points), you have Farkled. You lose your running point total and your turn is over. If you don't like these rules, you can read the "real rules."

Right before Mother's Day we were all at Costco, prowling for samples,.. ugh, shopping for groceries. We talked our mom into letting us buy that for her for Mother's Day. As soon as we got home, we immediately put it together and rummaged through all the fruit in the house. It came with a recipe book, that we have used since ten, but that first day, we experimented. We use it so much, we leave it out on the counter.

When we first bought it, we got a CASE of bananas from our local Bountiful Baskets. We stayed up LATE peeling bananas, chopping apples, and peeling oranges. We put all of the fruit in individual bags so that went the mood strikes, the ingredients are ready. Different types of fruit are mixed together in the bags, some according to the recipe book and some "Medley made" recipes.

​Markets are FunWe enjoy visiting with the vendors about their products. Often there are very unique stories about the products.

​Shop LocalAnytime I can buy local, I really make a point to do it. It feels good to know you're supporting a family and their small business rather than a huge corporation. I love to show my children there are so many things that people can choose to do to make money. With no middle man, the prices are terrific.

Research shows that 80% of the retail goods Americans buy are from China.

​Learn New ThingsI want our kids to know that meat and produce don't come from the supermarket.

We bit the bullet this weekend and went school supply shopping. The start of the school year is inevitable so we have started checking things off of the "before we go back to school" list. As we organized found backpacks and gym backs and checked them for signs of life, I noticed a familiar scent wafting through the air.

There were times last year when I would pick the kids up from sports practice, roll the windows down, and hang my head out - and still hold my breath - to make it home. The rule is that you put your clothes directly into the washer and immediately jump into the shower. Don't think that I didn't contemplate making them hose off in the yard first, I did. But this way I get their laundry started.

When we found scent boosters for the laundry, I should have bought stock that day. I love those tiny pellets and the way they make our clothes smell. I was standing in the middle of the office the other day and caught a whiff of myself and literally pulled my shirt up over my nose to smell.

As the smell from the gym bags hit me today, I had an idea! We poured some of my beloved Unstopables into "wedding favor bags," tied them up, and told the kids to put them in their shoes and shoe cabinets, in their luggage and backpacks, and in their closets and dressers.

Authors

After watching the first episode of Nickelodean iCarly, where the main character decides to do a web show, my kids decided that they would like to do a "show". Choosing to share our experiences with others, sounded like a really fun idea.​After going to a restaurant or on an outing, we talk about how we felt about it and what we each think and then we share those thoughts and ideas with you.